Texas Tech - what a surprise! We had no idea what to expect from this school, and we threw it in because it’s a STEM school with a full ride. Since we were going to be in Texas anyway, why not. S loved it! Loved it as in, it’s giving UNM a serious challenge for first place.
Driving into Lubbock from Dallas was kind of funny. The GPS was counting down the miles to our destination, and we figured we had at least a mile or so once we got off the freeway. Twenty miles out, all farmland and no city on the horizon. 10 miles out - same. 5 miles out - are we on the right road? Shouldn’t there be a skyline, or residential areas or something? A few more cross streets, but still very rural.
3 miles out - I think we’re lost…
OMG, is this our exit? There’s… there’s barely anything here??
Down on surface streets, OK, this looks more like civilization. We round a bend and A-ha, I see a few tall buildings in the near distance right as we turn into our hotel parking lot. Still, though, I’m looking around and this looks like a small town. Lubbock is supposed to have 250k people, so we’d like to know if the population includes cows, or if there’s a vast, underground bunker somewhere with approx. 200k people in it. 
The campus is large and stately, and the reception room for visitors looks like it belongs in a super-swanky, historical bank or period hotel. The architecture is Spanish Renaissance, with buildings of pale gold brick, decorative friezes and red tile roofs. The gold brick reminds me ever so slightly of Oxford, and the architectural vibe is more stately and impressive than Southwest and homey.
We did the standard tour. The rec cen is pretty amazing. On par with UTD, and if UTD’s wins out, it’s only because it’s newer, not larger or better equipped. There’s an indoor pool, plus an outdoor multi-pool complex with a small waterslide and a lazy river. They also have the tallest climbing wall in the Big 12.
The dorms were sort of bog standard doubles with community bathrooms. No / very few singles available, and closet space that might not be adequate for some. A new honors dorm is currently being built that will feature pod-style accommodations, but we didn’t get to see it other than floor plans. Apartment-style units are available for upperclassmen, but we didn’t get to see those either.
S met with a psych prof, a bio prof, a pre-health advisor, two theater profs and the head of the Honors college. Most were department heads, and because he met with so many, the meetings were short, half an hour at most, and in full drinking-from-a-firehose mode. Student guides met us in between each meeting to conduct us to the next one.
S liked every department, and his tour of the bio lab left him wowed and speechless. As with UTD, there are tons of opportunities for students to get involved in research. In fact, I think there were even more opportunities at Texas Tech than there were at UTD.
S says his meeting with the Honors College dean was mind-blowing. S makes head exploding gestures The man was charismatic, approachable, wise, compassionate, insightful, funny, engaging and a delightful raconteur. My S can talk a lot, but he was dead silent for much of the meeting because this guy had him spellbound.
To recap, S likes ABQ better than Lubbock, and he says UNM has better dorms and a better meal plan. UNM offers 24/7 unlimited access to the dining hall, while TT’s dining halls have limited hours and a complicated “dining bucks” system that, while very flexible, is…complicated.
He liked the overall university, especially the research opportunities and Honors College better at TT than UNM. It’s gong to be a hard decision.
The financial package for NMFs at Texas Tech is full ride plus. You get tuition and fees, room & board, books, a transportation stipend and a personal / misc. stipend. It’s a more generous package than NMF at either UTD or UNM, but S won’t be making this decision based on the monetary difference.